A Spoke Into the Wheel

“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”

— - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We all have heard about the atrocities of World War 2, the holocaust, and the horrors of what those times brought. But there is an obvious question that arises in this case. During World War 2, where were the good guys in Germany? This question is to be raised because surely there were those in that time of Germany who knew the evil that was going. They surely knew of the killings of millions of innocent Jewish people. One of those good guys was a theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. You see, Dietrich was at that time a very well-known theologian who was born and raised in Germany. He loved representing his country when he went around the world for various jobs and schoolings. Dietrich was one of the people in Germany who saw who Hitler was. He knew Hitler was a bad guy and tried warning the people of Germany to not elect Hither as leader. You might ask, “What was the result?” The result was that he was labeled a political activist. He was criticized and labeled for standing against Hitler. And even when Hitler was head of Germany and the holocaust was happening, Dietrich tried his best to motivate Germans to stand against Hitler and save the Jewish people. He went so much as to call those people out, saying they were not “true Christians” if they did not help save the Jews. That’s quite a claim.

There’s a song by the band Jars of Clay that I love to listen to. It’s called, “Headphones.” I encourage you to listen to it on Spotify. It’s under the album, “The Long Fall Back to Earth.” The purpose of this song is to point out our ignorance, and our unwillingness - and even our stubbornness - of not wanting to see the truth. Sometimes it hurts to see the truth. Sometimes it takes effort to be a good guy in this world. But as Dietrich Bonhoeffer tried to explain to the German Christians at that time, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” So I encourage you, don’t be like the German Christians during the holocaust. When you see evil, don’t turn away. Be one of the good guys that makes a difference in this world. Be a hero. Stand up for what is true and pure.

I leave you today hoping that you feel empowered. I hope you feel that you can make a difference in this world, one person at a time. This is a heavy, heavy world that we live in. Every bit of effort to stand up for what is right is difficult. But that is what this world requires from us. I encourage you, make a difference in this world. As Romans 12:21 states, don’t be overcome by evil. But rather, overcome evil with good. Please join in the conversation of this issue in the comments here on Tumblr or on Facebook. If you have questions, please ask. We are all on the same team. Let’s help and love each other. Thank you and God bless you.

#millennials #blogger #enlightenment #insight #connected #valued #love #sad